The meaning of the runes
by sinful starlet
Summary: Chapter 10 up - the end! The truth finally comes out - triumphantly MA!
1. one

The meaning of the runes

By Sinful Starlet

Disclaimer: everybody! "Not mine, never will be, wish it was, etc etc"!

Rating: PG-13 / R - I'll warn in advance of any rating changes

Summary: Alternate take on events around and following 'Love Amongst the Runes' - certain aspects of the storylines around that time really bugged me! Basically Max discovers the runes, but they aren't quite as unique as she thought. What do they mean and what will that revelation mean to her and the ones she loves?

Author's note: Okay, I know I'm evil - I'm like a third of the way into 'Max and Alec and another locked room' but I got this idea into my head and it is flatly refusing to go away until I write it down! It's kinda therapeutic anyway - allowing me to fix some things that really hacked me off about the end of series 2 and build on my whole M/A repertoire. Don't think I've seen this done yet either - although it probably has been. All I'm saying is - Max's not the only one who gets the runes - read into that what you will! Hope ya like it anyway! *SS*

+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

The meaning of the runes

By Sinful Starlet

Intro

(sorry just side note here - how come so many of my stories start with Max waking up in the morning?! - only just realised that! *SS*)

Max groaned as she got up that morning. She hadn't slept at all well the night before. Not that she usually slept more than a few hours a night but last night her sleep had been particularly disturbed. There had just been way too much going on this week. Well basically, things had been going downhill ever since Logan had seen Max and Alec together that morning outside her apartment. Even now, the words of her lie were still ringing in her head. Part of her just couldn't believe she'd actually done it, while the more rational part of her was still trying to convince her that it was for the best - that she was doing it for Logan's safety.

It would have been so much easier without the added complication of Alec she decided. It had been bad enough lying to Logan - saying that she was seeing Alec, but having to explain it all to Alec had been a torture she wasn't expecting. Thinking about it now, she wasn't sure what reaction she'd been expecting, but him being upset with her hadn't been it. Laughter, some kind of sarcastic wise-crack, anything typically Alec, but instead he'd just looked her, and there was real hurt in his eyes, which got to her more than she would have thought possible.

They had argued of course, she had at least expected that much, and then he went off to see Logan, all ready to tell him the whole truth about her dumb lie. But he hadn't, which had thrown her all over again. After everything that he had said, he had gone along with it for her sake, because she had asked him to. This had certainly surprised her, but at the time she was just grateful - alleviating part of her guilt about the lie, even if it was only a small part.

Max realised then that she had never really given him enough credit - been too quick to criticise everything he did, though she was right to a lot of the time. She had to admit that there was a lot more to Alec than she had let herself think at first, his agreement to go along with this plan of hers proved that, though not as much as the look in his eyes when he first heard about her lie. She had only ever seen him look like that once before - and that was when he was with Rachel. She didn't know what that meant, but she didn't get the chance to think about it just then as she felt Alec take her hand, gently trying to re-focus her attention on their conversation.

That was when she first saw them. The runes. The small grouping on her right wrist, coming into focus from somewhere deep inside her. They were back at Terminal City in less than half an hour, calling up Logan on the vid link and getting him to look at them. It had unsettled her a lot more than she wanted to admit at the time, but Logan had said he would look into it, though not before an extremely awkward moment between the new triangle. She had eventually gone to sleep that night, realising there was nothing else she could do about the runes that night. She got a fairly sharp shock the next morning though as she walked past the mirror.

1

"Oh my god", she breathed as she stood in front of the tarnished old mirror. The runes had spread during the night, in fact 'spread' was probably an understatement. There were now small groups leading up both of her arms, across her chest and stomach, and as she contorted herself in front of the mirror she saw more groupings all over her back. She quickly checked herself over thoroughly, but apart from a couple of isolated groupings on her ankles and feet, the rest of the runes stopped just below her waist. 

They weren't hurting her in any way, physically she felt fine, but there was clearly something less than normal about them, but that did kind of pose the question of what was she going to do about them. The night before she had got Logan pictures of the runes by standing in front of Alec while he held the camera over the groupings on her right arm, but this was different. In order to get pictures of all of the runes, she would have to remove rather a lot of clothing, and she certainly wasn't going to do that in the middle of the command centre at TC.

She obviously did need to get some pictures of them though, and this wasn't exactly something she could do by herself. So who was she supposed to call? Original Cindy, CeCe? Obviously she couldn't call Logan, there was no way he'd be able to get close enough to her to take the pictures without her re-infecting him, and she also wasn't exactly keen on the idea of stripping off in front of him, less than a week after they had 'broken up'. Which meant what? She hesitated but then she did reach for her cell phone and dial the number………… "Hey it's me, listen can you come over……as soon as possible I guess……oh, and see if you can get hold of a camera on your way - I'll explain later". She hung up then, not knowing what else to say, just heading for the bathroom to get ready.

*

Half an hour later, the knock on her door came and she got up to answer it, standing aside to let him in. "Hey Max", he said, stepping into her 'living room' - if you could really call it that, "so I uh, I managed to get a camera off Dix - apparently it turned up in a salvage run couple days ago". "Thanks", Max said, sounding as uneasy in her voice as he had, "for coming I mean, I know this is a little weird".

"Sure", Alec said, eventually taking a seat in one of the arm chairs she had found for this place, "but um, what exactly is weird? I mean you weren't too specific over the phone". Max cursed inwardly, of course she hadn't told him why he was here yet. "Right, well, I needed to show you something", she said, starting to unbutton her shirt. "Woah, hey Max", Alec said, jumping up out of his seat again, "can't believe I'm actually gonna say this but - what are you doing?"

Max couldn't help but smile a little at that, it seemed that smart-Alec was never that far away. "Remember those runes we found last night?", she asked, stopping undoing her shirt for the time being. "Yeah?", Alec said, still sounding a little uneasy, though he stepped round the coffee table so he was standing opposite her as she went on. "Well, I woke up this morning and there were more", she said, avoiding his gaze, though she couldn't say exactly why.

"More?", Alec said, apparently a little slow on the uptake this morning. "More runes", Max said, looking back up at his face, "all over, but they're already starting to fade, so I figured I better get some pictures of them for Logan before they fade completely". "Right", Alec nodded, finishing her thought, "hence the camera?" "Well I guess I better leave you to it then", he went on, moving back towards the front door. "Alec, wait", Max said quickly, feeling a whole mess of emotions wash into her stomach as she forced herself to say the next few words, "it's just some of the runes are a little…inaccessible". 

"Inaccessible?", he interrupted, not quite following. "To me", Max went on, feeling even more uneasy as she said, "meaning I wouldn't be able to photograph them all myself". The penny it seemed, had finally dropped as he looked at her with uncertain realisation on his face. "Which is why you asked me to come?" Max didn't answer right away, but she did eventually nod. It took Alec a while to come up with any kind of response to that, but it would be fair to say that if Max was feeling confused, it was nothing to the way Alec was feeling at that moment.

"Again, my asshole persona is hating me for saying this, but are you sure you don't want someone else to help you do this?", he said at last, fixing a half-smile on his face and seeing that expression mirrored on Max's own. "I only ask because I'm guessing it's a little more than your right arm that I'm gonna need to see - wouldn't you be more comfortable with someone like OC doing this?" Max smiled in spite of herself, pleasantly surprised by the concession he was making here. "Not practical", she said at last, "going to get her, bringing her back here? Not really an option, and anyway, who else is there? CeCe? Another female X5? Don't think I know any of them well enough for that, which leaves who? I mean, it's not like I can ask---".

She trailed off then, apparently neither of them were going to bring up that particular name. And Alec conceded she was right, Logan really wasn't a good idea on this, even without Max's lie about the two of them being together. Which left….. "Joshua?", he hazarded, though from the look on her face, he guessed that that wasn't really going to happen either. "I guess not!", he said, laughing awkwardly. "Look", Max said, cutting him off before he could say anything else and stepping forward, taking his hand in hers, "I know this is…well, way beyond the normal borders of awkwardness but I need your help here Alec".

Unfortunately, her holding his hand had pretty much destroyed his concentration so he reacted too late as she twisted his wrist and bent his arm up behind his back. He twinged with pain, but found he couldn't easily get out of the hold she had put him into. "Of course", Max said, in a disarmingly sweet tone, "if you tell Sketchy about this……I will have to kick your ass - again!" With those last few words she released him, and moved back to give him a little space. "Ok", he said after a few seconds passed, "if you're sure?" Max nodded, "But just remember--" "Duly noted!", Alec cut in, smiling back at her.

*

Okay so that's chapter one - love it? hate it? I know I didn't really get very far into the story, but trust me, I am going somewhere with this! I hope you liked it anyway! I'll try and update soon. *SS*


	2. two

The meaning of the runes

By Sinful Starlet

Disclaimer: everybody! "Not mine, never will be, wish it was, etc etc"!

Rating: PG-13 / R - I'll warn in advance of any rating changes

Summary: Alternate take on events around and following 'Love Amongst the Runes' - certain aspects of the storylines around that time really bugged me! Basically Max discovers the runes, but they aren't quite as unique as she thought. What do they mean and what will that revelation mean to her and the ones she loves?

Author's note: Right - chapter two. So Max needs someone to take some pictures of her runes - who's she gonna call? Basically this chapter is me fixing a moment from the TV series that just really didn't work for me. Be warned - rant ahead. At the beginning of 'Freak Nation', Max needs pictures of her runes taking so she goes to Logan?!!! The same Logan she's just supposedly 'broken up' with? The same Logan who has to wear like four layers of gloves and douse his hands in bleach afterwards, just so he's able to touch her? I'm not saying in the context of the show, it would make any more sense for her to go to Alec (esp. if you're an M/L shipper) but hey - this isn't the show, it's my story and this is the way I would have done that scene. Anyway, thank you if you actually bothered to read all that, and I hope you enjoy the chapter! *SS*

2

Alec picked up the camera and followed her over to her bed, squashing the deluge of highly inappropriate thoughts that were flooding his mind at that moment. However much certain parts of him wanted to take advantage of the situation, he wouldn't do it, he couldn't, not with her. So he just sat down on the corner of the bed, shrugging out of his jacket and picking up the camera again as she stopped in front of him. "Ready when you are", he said, his voice sounding less casual than he would have liked.

Max struggled internally for a moment, but eventually conquered her inhibitions and started unbuttoning her shirt again. She had to look down though as she let it slide off her shoulders, not able to look him in the eye just then. It was probably just as well, because the reaction on Alec's face was probably not what she was looking for right now. "Right", Alec said eventually, getting her attention, "well I can see why you didn't want to do this at the command centre anyway!"

He considered it something of an achievement to have said anything at that moment, let alone saying something that actually made her smile. Taking off her shirt, she was now clad only in very low cut jeans and a black bra. Forcing himself to remember why he was there, he stopped taking in the honey silk of her skin and looked at the runes. He was surprised at how many of the groupings there were, he counted seventeen just across her torso and arms. He reached for the camera and stood up, walking closer to her. Max flinched a little as his fingers touched her skin, and he hesitated for a second.

"It's fine", Max said, lying through her teeth, "cold hands, that's all". Alec rolled his eyes and propped the camera under his arm while he rubbed his hands together for a second. "Better?", he asked a moment later as he rested his left hand back on her shoulder. "Mm-hm", Max managed, erring on the non-committal, of course his hands hadn't been cold at all, it had just been a while since any male had been this close to her, and the fact that it was Alec that was here with her was complicating the situation even further.

She suppressed a sigh as his fingers traced over her stomach, moving the top of her jeans a little to get a better view of a particular group of runes, but she recovered quickly as she felt his touch disappear. "That uh, seems to be the lot", Alec said, cursing inwardly as he realised how different his voice was sounding and hoping Max didn't pick up on it. "Not quite", Max said, smiling nervously again as she turned around. This time it was Alec that had to suppress a sigh. Being around Max like this was nothing if not distracting and he figured the sooner he got out of there, the better.

Nevertheless, Max felt the gentle pressure of his hands on her skin again as he started on the new groupings, moving slowly and methodically from one to the next. He almost groaned when he came to a realisation though. "Uh Max?", he said, trying his best to keep his voice level. "Yeah?", she said, turning her head over her shoulder to try and look at him. "I really don't want you to think that this is a line, but your uh, your straps are in the way of some of the runes".

Max breathed deeply before she answered, she had been expecting this, but it didn't make the moment any less uncomfortable. "Hold on a second", she said, turning round and moving past him to lie down on her stomach on the bed. "Go ahead", she said once she was settled. Again, it was probably just as well Max couldn't see Alec's face at that moment, but he took a deep breath and sat down beside her, reaching to unfasten her bra. He stopped instantly though as he heard her laugh softly, "What?" "I was just thinking", she said, turning her face to look at him for a second, "if Normal could see us now…"

"Hmm", Alec said, sharing the joke, "let's not go down that road shall we?" She rolled her eyes and turned her head away again, taking a deep breath herself as she crossed her arms under her to hold the front of her bra to her chest. He waited until she was settled then reached for the central clasp again, slowly opening it and easing the straps out of the way. Max lay there, more than a little nervous given their positions at that moment, but she had to admit that she was surprised at the way Alec was reacting to all this. He was so gentle with her, his fingers ghosting over her skin, eliciting responses she was determined not to rationalise at that point in time.

She only came back to reality when she felt him lifting the straps back onto her shoulders and fastening the clasp again, and she felt the bed move as he stood up. "All done", he said, smiling a little nervously, there was nothing of the smart-Alec smirk here, and handing her her shirt. "Thanks", she said, smiling back and sitting up cross-legged on the bed while she buttoned her shirt up again. "Any more?", Alec asked, "Or should I get these over to Logan on the vid link?"

It was said before he realised what he was saying, but they both reacted immediately, Logan's name bringing reality a little too close for comfort. "Uh there's some more on my ankles", Max said, rolling up the legs of her jeans a little so he could see them, and avoiding his gaze as she said, "and maybe I should deal with Logan". "Sure", Alec said quickly, mentally slapping himself for bringing up the guy's name while he was in the middle of something dangerously close to a 'moment' with Max. He captured the last of the runes on her ankles and feet and then handed her the camera.

"I better get going", he said, picking up his jacket and pulling it on, "I'll cover for you with Normal - take as long as you need with…y'know". "Thanks", Max said again, standing up as he moved towards the door and going over to open it for him. "Hey and Alec?", she said, just as he was about to go, "Really, thanks for this - I appreciate it". "No problem", Alec said, managing something like a sincere expression, "you know me Max - I always got your back…", he hesitated for a moment, just long enough for her to misinterpret before the trademark smirk made it's appearance, "…and your front, and your feet and--". 

"Hey!", she said, cutting him off and punching him in the arm. "Couldn't resist", Alec said, laughing, "and ow, by the way!" "Suck it up soldier!", Max joked back, laughing a little herself, "I'll catch up with you later ok?" Alec nodded, smiling once more as he made his way down the corridor outside her room, towards the stairs down to street level. He chanced a look back just before he turned the corner, but Max had already closed the door. Well, it had certainly been an interesting morning!

Okay, I know that was kinda short, but it just seemed like a good place to stop for the time being! Hope ya liked it anyway *SS*


	3. three

The meaning of the runes

By Sinful Starlet

Disclaimer: everybody! "Not mine, never will be, wish it was, etc etc"!

Rating: PG-13 / R - I'll warn in advance of any rating changes

Summary: Alternate take on events around and following 'Love Amongst the Runes' - certain aspects of the storylines around that time really bugged me! Basically Max discovers the runes, but they aren't quite as unique as she thought. What do they mean and what will that revelation mean to her and the ones she loves?

Author's note: right - chapter three. Bit longer than the last couple of chapters, but I couldn't bear to break this one up! Story continues anyway - aftermath of the whole 'photographing runes' thing, and an interesting new side to Alec emerges. Oh and for all of you that guessed that it's Alec that gets the runes as well, I'm not talking about that yet! Hope ya like it anyway! *SS*

3

Max had meant to take the photos over to Logan right after Alec had left but somehow she hadn't been able to talk herself into doing it. Things had been getting more and more tense between them during the last couple weeks. Of course this was entirely because Max had told Logan that she was seeing Alec now, but that didn't make her feel any better. It would have been better if he'd been mad, she thought, if he could have shown any kind of emotion, but he hadn't.

Well at the time, shock seemed to be the major theme, but afterwards… She'd left it a few days before she'd called him, giving him time to get used to the idea, or something like that anyway. Then when she finally did, he wasn't angry, upset - he wasn't anything really, just cold and distant. The closest they'd come to a normal conversation since was when she showed him the first set of runes over the vid link, but given Alec's presence, Logan was still fairly quiet.

She was really starting to worry. She'd badgered Alec till he told her absolutely every word that was said when he had gone over to tell Logan the truth about Max's lie - though he hadn't in the end, going along with it for her sake. For the first time in ages, Max had absolutely no idea what was going through Logan's head, and that had her really worried. She knew he would be upset - it wasn't like he had liked Alec that much before, let alone now, but he just refused to let it show.

She'd considered telling him the truth about a hundred times since then, but each time she had managed to talk herself out of it, just hoping Logan would eventually get past it and they'd be able to at least maintain a friendship, if nothing else. Oh well, at least Alec was still ok around her, and she almost laughed at how comforting that was now. In spite of all the weirdness of her situation with Logan, and the growing issue of White and the 'war' on transgenic, Alec had become something of a touchstone. True, he could still be a complete pain in the ass sometimes, but she had to admit, she didn't know what she would have done lately without him to jolly her along.

*

In the end, Max had gone into work before going to Logan's - needing something to put her energy into to take her mind off everything else that was going on. She knew the moment that she walked in that Alec had kept his promise because Normal said nothing whatsoever to her about being late, although he did look at her a little strangely. Alec was already out on a run so she didn't get the chance to speak to him then, so she just grabbed a few packages of her own and set off on a run.

*

So it was about 6.30 by the time Max finally arrived at Joshua's old place to see Logan. She mentally slapped herself as she reached the door, she had been so nervous she had even thought of knocking. She shook off the impulse and just stepped inside, shouting hello so he would know that it was her. Predictably he was sitting in front of a computer screen as she walked into the 'living room', and it took him a few seconds before he even looked up at her.

"Hey Max", he said finally, still cold and distant, and not looking at all pleased to see her. He closed the notebook he had been writing in and stood up, walking round to stand in front of her, "did you want something?" "Logan--", Max started, understanding why he was upset, but just needing him not to be mad with her right now. Luckily, Logan did seem to grasp that he'd gone a little too far this time, his expression softening and an apologetic tone colouring his next few words.

"I'm sorry Max", he said simply. "It's ok", Max said, quickly, though she couldn't help smiling a little, "how you getting on here? I know it's not exactly the Ritz but--". "It's fine", Logan said, cutting her off, "dry and warm, y'know". He was about to ask, 'how are you?' when Max started speaking at exactly the same time, saying 'how are you really?' They both managed weak smiles at this, Max gesturing for Logan to speak first. "I'm fine", he said, "been busy trying to get Eyes Only back up and running, tracking down a few leads on those runes you found".

This got Max's attention if nothing else did. "And did you find anything?", she asked. "Not really", Logan said, moving back to the desk and sitting down again, pulling up the original video captures he'd got from her, "but I found a place to start". "The language is a form of ancient Minoan", he explained, "certain characters are recognisable", he added, pointing to a few of the symbols on the screen. "But there's not really enough here to get an accurate translation - well that and the fact that no one has ever fully translated the alphabet to begin with". 

"Figures!", Max said under her breath, catching the smile this brought to Logan's face too. Time seemed to slow down for a second, it took her a moment to realise that he was looking at her gloved hand resting on the edge of the desk, his own hand edging towards hers, "Max---", he started but she interrupted, moving her hand to take the photos out of her jacket pocket. "Maybe these'll help", she said, dropping them on the desk, all too aware of the awkwardness of the moment that had just passed between them.

Apparently Logan was too, as she saw an unreadable expression cross his face before he recovered himself and picked up the photos and started leafing through them. "There's a lot of new groupings here", he said after a minute had passed, "these all appeared last night?" "Yeah", Max answered, "we just found them this morning". It was said before she even realised what it was that she had actually just said, but apparently the slip of 'we' in that sentence wasn't as lost on Logan as she would have liked.

It took him another minute before he answered, and when he did he wasn't looking at her, but he did eventually say, "So Alec took the pictures?" "Logan--", Max started, a pleading tone in her voice, the last thing she wanted to do was upset him again, but it seemed a bit late for considerations like that. "Forget it Max", Logan said quickly, "not my business, right?" He couldn't even sound cruel as he said it, the words weren't harsh or bitter, just……sad.

"Okay", he said, standing up and moving over to the scanner he had on a nearby table, loading the photos into it and setting it to capture all the new images. "I'll get to work on these as soon as", he said, all business, "I'll call you if I find anything". "Right", Max said, still waiting for him to turn back and face her. She waited a good two minutes, but he obviously had said all he meant to so she disappointedly walked away, heading for the door. 

She was almost outside again when she heard his voice calling her back, "Max?" "Yeah?", she said, trying not to sound too eager as she walked back into the living room. "In case I don't get the chance to say it again any time soon…", he started, pausing for a second. "Yes?", Max asked, taking another couple of steps towards him. "…be careful?", Logan said, a somewhat pained smile on his face. "Always", Max said, smiling reassuringly back at him, "you got my back, right?"

The mood changed in a second, Max mentally kicking herself for not remembering in time, the last time they had exchanged those words. Logan didn't seem able to answer so she just waved uneasily and walked quickly towards the door. Even her genetically enhanced hearing couldn't have caught Logan's eventual reply. The words were barely more than a whisper, but they were there, "Always, Max".

*

Max took the long way back to TC, she had been going there most nights for the past couple of weeks. More and more transgenics were arriving by the day and somehow she seemed to have ended up as unofficial leader of the TC community. Not that there had been a vote or anything, it just happened that Joshua and Dix, and even Mole had started coming to her to report in every night, and everyone else seemed to have followed their example. 

She arrived to find the place unusually noisy that night, so she made her over to the command centre quickly, trying to find out what was going on. She found Joshua and Dix at the hub (where all their computer equipment was hooked up) playing what turned out to be chess. She smiled at Joshua who appeared to winning, and was about to make her way over to him when she heard another chorus of shouts from the other end of the warehouse they were using as headquarters. "What's that all about?", she asked to no one in particular. "Your boy's giving a few lessons in urban combat", Mole said, as he emerged into the middle of the 'room', "hell, he's not bad for an X series!"

The 'your boy' had already got her attention, but now she really needed to see what was going on. She walked past Mole, climbing down the ladder to the ground level where the noise was coming from and squeezing her way through the crowds that were congregating there. As soon as she got to the front she could see what all the fuss was about. Alec, (of course it was Alec) was standing in the middle of a circle formed by the crowds around him, systematically taking on opponent after opponent - and causing some serious damage.

Max had seen him fight before, hell, she'd fought him herself, and she'd never seen him like this. He was kicking ass in a major way - X5s, a few X6s, anyone that was dumb enough to try didn't seem to last longer than a few seconds. And he didn't even look like he was breaking a sweat. His light grey t-shirt was fairly moulded to his torso, in a way that Max wasn't hating at all, and it was bone-dry. He didn't seem to have noticed her, he just kept calling out numbers, which evidently meant something to the crowds around, as different transgenics rushed forward at each new number.

Then something changed. A group of males (X5 by the look of them) all rushed Alec at once. Max immediately pulled her jacket off and meant to jump in and help him, but as she was astonished to see - he didn't need any help - at all. In less than thirty seconds, three of the attackers were on the ground, the fourth, pinned down in a hold Max didn't recognise, only seconds later. "Okay", Alec said, eventually letting the guy go and helping him to stand up, "I think that's probably about enough for tonight, but keep working on your moves, a couple of you are looking a little sloppy on your defence". 

The general noise level started to rise again after the awed hush that had descended during the last fight, and the assembled crowd of transgenics started to disperse. More than one, Max noted sporting minor injuries, nothing serious, but enough to leave a mark the next day. It was only at this moment that Alec noticed Max, looking somewhat surprised to see her. Max struggled to think of what to say at first. She'd known he was strong, but they all were, and she had never seen an X5 take on more than one X5 opponent at once, after all, they weren't designed to be able to fight each other.

And yet Alec had beaten down four X5 males, and the only result seemed to be that he was breathing a little more heavily than usual. Eventually the only thing Max could think of saying was, "What was that?" "Come on, Max", Alec said, walking over to a chair by the wall and retrieving his sweater and pulling it back over his head, "you know as well as I do - something's brewing. We've got a fight coming, whether we want to admit or not, I'm just making sure everyone gets a little training in".

"What? You don't like the idea?", he asked then, seeing as he had got no response before. "No, I think it's a great idea", Max said, still trying to get over her surprise, "but that's not exactly what I meant". "Oh?", Alec said, prompting her to go on, falling into step beside her as they walked back towards the hub. "Come on, Alec", she said, mimicking him, "you know what I mean". Whether he did or not, he managed to look quite appealingly clueless. She bit back her smile and tried again, "Those were X5s right?". He nodded, still apparently not following her. 

"Alec you took on four X5s single-handed?", Max asked, somewhat incredulously. "So?", Alec said, stopping for a second, still not understanding what she was saying. Max stopped too then, trying to figure out whether he was actually being serious, but however long she waited, no smirk appeared, no laugh… "So", she said eventually, "I've never seen anyone take on four X5s at once - let alone beat them _all_!" The smirk did appear this time, though it disappeared when he saw that she actually wasn't joking, "Really?"

"Really!", Max went on, still trying to reconcile herself to the truth, "I mean, back when we were kids, even last September (AN - I have no idea if this actually was in September, I'm making it up!) when I got taken back to Manticore - all the fights I watched…", she stopped herself before she added, "all the times _I _fought, I could never take on more than one X5 at once". "Well", Alec hesitated, lost as to what to say for a minute, "I guess I have got ten years training over you, but--". He trailed off anyway, but Max was already cutting in, "Were you holding back?"

"What?", Alec asked, genuinely confused now. Max rolled her eyes, but she went on, "In the cage fight - were you holding back? Did you _let_ me win?" Alec definitely hesitated this time, and his silence was all the proof she needed. "You were", she said, pre-empting his answer. "Well, yeah", Alec said, reluctantly adding, "weren't you?" He guessed that might not have been his best move because Max looked away before she answered, "No", came her reply, and her voice suddenly seemed very small.

"Hey", Alec said softly, moving to stand in front of her, and gently lifting her chin so she was looking at him, "so maybe I'm stronger than you - does the world really have to come crashing down because of that?" "That's not even it", Max said, lifting her head away from his fingers that stilled lingered underneath her chin, "don't you see Alec? You're stronger than every transgenic I've ever met". "Well can't we just say 'yay me' for now, and come back to what it all means later?", Alec asked, trying to break her out of the serious mood she had gotten herself into, which was starting to get to him too.

"I guess", Max said, unable to stop herself smiling at that typically Alec remark, "yay you!" "Damn straight!", Alec said, smirk firmly reattached. They walked on a few more paces, neither saying anything, although the sudden discovery of Alec's strength was preying on both their minds. "So", Alec said, more to break the silence than anything else, "did you go see…", he trailed off, leaving her an out if she wanted to say that she didn't want to talk about it. "Logan?", Max finished, her smile disappearing as rapidly as it arrived. Alec cursed inwardly, he still seemed to be suffering from a fairly serious case of FIM (Foot In Mouth) syndrome!

"It was…", Max started, not sure why she needed him to hear this, but feeling at the same time that she had to tell him. "It's ok", Alec cut in, "you don't have to…". "…a little intense", Max said, interrupting him this time, sighing a little, "everything's just screwed up right now". 'Nice one', Alec thought to himself, 'really lightened the atmosphere there didn't you?' Max had lapsed into silence again, so, hoping she wasn't gonna kick his ass for this, he loosely rested his arm round her shoulders, "Hey, at least you've still got me Max!" 

He felt her shoulders shake a little, realising a little too late that it was from suppressed laughter, "Not much of a consolation is it?", she muttered under her breath. "Hey!", he said, pulling his arm away from her and giving her his best injured puppy-dog expression, "Max you wound me, you really do!" Max laughed in spite of herself, slapping his arm as she walked past him, "Come on, wound boy - I'll let you buy me dinner!"

Right, well, that was chapter three! Hope ya liked it - blimey, I was almost verging on M/L there for a moment! Rest assured, your normal M/A service will be resumed very shortly - like I could stay away from that boy for long! Oh and about the whole 'added strength' thing - trust me, I'm going somewhere with this! *SS*


	4. four

The meaning of the runes

By Sinful Starlet

Disclaimer: everybody! "Not mine, never will be, wish it was, etc etc"!

Rating: PG-13 / R - I'll warn in advance of any rating changes

Summary: Alternate take on events around and following 'Love Amongst the Runes' - certain aspects of the storylines around that time really bugged me! Basically Max discovers the runes, but they aren't quite as unique as she thought. What do they mean and what will that revelation mean to her and the ones she loves?

Author's note: right - chapter four. Kind of an interesting spin on chapter two (she hopes!) - the plot thickens, and Logan has a conversation he would probably rather forget. Just a quick note - I'm not a Logan-basher (at least I hope I'm not!) I don't hate the guy, I just have a problem with the idea of him and Max as a couple - right, well hope that cleared that up! Hope ya like it anyway! *SS*

4

Alec hesitated for a second before he knocked on her door that evening, though he couldn't have said exactly why. It was true, things had been going fairly well between them lately - which made for a nice change - but he still felt a little awkward coming to see her like this. It'd come as something of a shock when he stepped out of the shower, but nevertheless, he'd got dressed and made his way straight over to her place. She was back in TC again, that night, having decided to crash there rather than ride back to her apartment.

She was still basically living with OC, but she also had a room set aside in TC so if she had to be there for anything, or for any other reason, she had somewhere there that she could sleep. The fact that this second place of hers was all of two doors down from Alec's new home was apparently entirely coincidental. Well, that was what she kept protesting to Alec, when he wound her up saying she couldn't stay away from him. 

It also helped to convince Logan of the fact that he and Max were together. He had called round to her old apartment a couple of times since she'd broken up with him and OC had been able to say entirely truthfully that Max wasn't there - allowing Logan to fill in the blanks about where she actually was. OC hadn't been entirely happy about lying to Logan like that, but she had done it for Max's sake, of course. 

Alec brought himself out of his momentary reverie and knocked on the door again, hoping she hadn't already gone to sleep, but thankfully after a few seconds, he heard her voice saying, "Hold on". "Hey", she managed as she opened the door, looking more than a little surprised to see him, especially that late at night, "is everything ok?" "Not exactly", Alec said, smiling weakly, "can I come in?" "Sure", Max said, stepping inside to let him in - walking over to the chair where she'd dropped a towel, picking it up again and starting to dry her hair again.

She'd just come out of the shower too, Alec realised, sensing the slightly steamy atmosphere of the room (literally steamy I mean!), and the slight flush on her still moist skin. He cursed himself as his mind wandered off an entirely inappropriate tangent, bringing him back to reality with a thud as he noticed she was standing in front of him, looking like he was crazy or something. "You wanna tell me about it?", she said, abandoning the towel again and crossing her arms in front of her, still regarding him with that questioning look. 

Okay, he was supposed to say something now, right? Unfortunately, all ability for rational thought seemed to have deserted him for that moment, as he watched a tiny droplet of water run from her hairline, down her cheek. She brushed the offending drip aside with the back of her hand and shook her head. "Alright, well I'm going to make some coffee", she said, speaking slowly as if she were talking to a child, "if you recover the ability to speak or remember why you came here, feel free to let me know". 

He tore his gaze away from her lips long enough to focus and managed to say, "I think there's something you should see". That got her attention and she turned back to face him, putting the kettle she had just picked up, back down on the worktop to her left. "What is it?", she asked, suddenly looking a little worried again, "Alec are you sure you're alright?" He thought of explaining but didn't really know where to start, so he just shrugged off his jacket and grabbed the hem of his shirt, about to pull it over his head. 

"Whoa!", Max cut in, holding up a hand to stop him, "Alec, what the hell are you doing?" "Will you relax?", he said, finally managing a laugh, seeing the expression on her face - a mixture of fear, incredulity, and he wasn't sure what else. Before she could object again, he reached for the hem of his shirt again and pulled it all the way off again, dropping it down onto the chair next to his jacket. Max closed her mouth on the protest she had been about to form, realising what it was he had wanted her to see, but all she seemed able to say was, "How?"

"You got me", Alec shrugged, "I just stepped out of the shower and they were just there". Unable to stop herself, Max walked over to him, reaching up a hand to ghost over the runes across his chest. There was only a single line of them, running horizontally across his chest, about three inches below his collar bone. Alec had been about to ask her what she was doing, but shut up as soon as he felt her warm fingers tracing over his skin. He waited a few more seconds, but eventually realised at least one of them had to say something.

"Max?", he managed, his voice soft and deeper than usual. "Yeah?", she said, jerking her head up instantly, apparently only just realising what she had been doing, snatching her fingers away from his chest. "I thought we better get some pictures of them, before they fade", Alec said, struggling to hold onto his train of thought, "you've still got the camera right?" "Yeah", Max nodded, walking off towards her 'bedroom' and coming back seconds later. She had to fight the urge to smile as he raised his eyebrows at where she had kept the camera.

"In case I got any more runes", she explained, trying her hardest not to laugh. Alec made a fairly non-committal gesture she guessed was supposed to approximate 'fair enough'. She turned the camera on and laid her hand on his chest as she positioned the lens to capture the runes on his skin. "Hold still", she said, a little unnecessarily. "Yes ma'am!", Alec quipped, smiling as she rolled her eyes. "So", he said, needing to say something to detract from the sensation of her fingers pressing gently again his skin, "have you had any more?" "Runes", he added, when he saw the lack of comprehension on her face.

"A few more groups on my arms, but that's it", Max said, "I was gonna get the pictures over to Logan tomorrow". "Right", Alec said quickly, trying to gloss over the waver in her voice as she said Logan's name. "All done", Max said, a minute later, "there weren't any more were there?" "Nope", Alec said, reaching for his shirt and pulling it back on over his head, missing the look that crossed Max's face as he did that. Which was probably just as well, the conflicting emotion that was running through Max at the moment was really messing with her head.

"Well I better go", Alec said, breaking the silence that had descended between them, "so were you gonna call Logan on the vid link tomorrow?" Max nodded, slightly thrown off by the mention of Logan's name again, "Yeah", she added a little sadly, "I don't think I could face going over there again". "Right", Alec replied, knowing not to pry any further, "well, knock on my door before you do - maybe I should be there too". That confused Max for a second, why exactly was he supposed to be there? She knew she'd asked Alec to pretend to be her boyfriend in front of Logan but what was he going to do - give Logan a visual over the vid link?

She cursed inwardly, pushing back the multitude of images that flooded her at that moment, all the more potent given the intimate situation the two of them had just been in. She eventually realised that he meant he should be there so he could find about the runes, so she managed to say something to the affirmative. Alec nodded, regarding her closely for a second, apparently having noticed the long time it took her to respond. He let it go though, grabbing his jacket and heading for the door, saying he would see her in the morning.

*

It was all of seven hours later by the time they were standing in the hub of their command centre at TC, calling up Logan on the vid link. Max had called him on his cell first, dragging him out of bed apparently, much to the chagrin of Alec who had been woken up loudly by Max almost an hour earlier. Logan looked rather pleased to see Max when he eventually got the vid link going, but his smile quickly faded when he saw Alec standing beside Max. 

"We've got some more runes for you", Max explained quickly, "I'm sending the files over to you now". She gestured for Dix to upload the files from the camera and within a few seconds, Logan called them back, as they downloaded onto one of the monitors in front of him. "Right", he said, scanning through the images one by one until he came to one in particular. It was of an entire design, an entire design on a chest that was very obviously not Max's, one that was very obviously male. "Who else--", he started, but Max interrupted.

"Alec", she said, looking over at him quickly, "they turned up last night". It took Logan a few seconds before he could respond, though they all knew what he was thinking. Alec and Max shared an awkward glance before he took in the faces of the others around him - Joshua, Dix, Mole, and the nomaly who had been created for the sole purpose of digging trenches (AN. Does anyone even know what his name is? V confused!) They all knew about Max's lie to Logan, Alec having explained so that none of them accidentally let the truth slip.

"You didn't get any more?", Logan's reply came at last, "Just this single string?" "Um yeah", Alec said, slightly taken aback at being directly addressed by Logan. "I guess they aren't as unique to you as we thought, Max", Logan said, still looking at the images rather than at the vid link showing her face, "maybe they're encoded into all the transgenics". "Don't think so", came the reply, somewhat surprisingly from Mole, and in fact, everyone turned round to hear what he had to say, including Logan. "After Alec told us about his runes, Joshua and I did a little survey of the Terminal City residential population - no one else has got them".

"Well", said Logan, the first to reply to this revelation, "maybe it has something to do with contact, maybe they're 'passed on' or something". "Yeah maybe", Max replied, frowning, "but Alec isn't exactly the only person I've come into contact with lately". "Well, maybe it depends on the _degree_ of contact", Dix started, ever the rational one. "Sure", Logan cut in, "I mean you'll obviously have been closer to Alec than anyone else, right?" If it was possible, the tension in the two rooms got even worse after that statement, and apparently nobody knew what to say.

Right - well that was chapter four. I know that was kind of a mean place to stop, but I was running out of steam (again literal steam!) on this scene. Story picks up pace quite a bit after this now, and there's still a fair chunk of it left. Hope ya liked it anyway! *SS*


	5. five

The meaning of the runes

By Sinful Starlet

Disclaimer: everybody! "Not mine, never will be, wish it was, etc etc"!

Rating: PG-13 / R - I'll warn in advance of any rating changes

Summary: Alternate take on events around and following 'Love Amongst the Runes' - certain aspects of the storylines around that time really bugged me! Basically Max discovers the runes, but they aren't quite as unique as she thought. What do they mean and what will that revelation mean to her and the ones she loves?

Author's note: Finally, chapter five is here! I'm sorry it's taken SO long for me to update but I have had no time whatsoever to write this week - evil university essays! Grrr! But I'm back - at last and hopefully you'll like this chapter. It gets a little darker for a while, the events during the siege at Jam Pony sucking a lot of the happiness quotient of the story. It will brighten up though, I promise, and this is an important part of the story. Hope you like it anyway, and I'll try and update again soon! *SS*

Just an extra note - in response to one of my reviews. Punctuation should hopefully be ok from now on - I'm putting my earlier errors down to laziness (probably not a good time to admit that I'm studying English at uni, right?) 

5

The level of communication between Max and Logan had almost dropped to zero after that. He still called into Terminal City on the vid link, but spoke to Luke or Dix more than anyone else. It was obviously getting to Max as well, and Alec had to stop Joshua and a couple of the other transgenics from asking her what was wrong. He understood what she was going through, the sacrifice she had made to keep him safe, so the least he could do was watch her back now. And he really had been there for her, Max thought, for once 'screw-up' Alec seemed to be on hiatus. Of course, Alec being so decent towards her didn't make things any easier - just one more complication in the chaos that she laughingly called her life. And then it'd got really complicated…

*

So maybe surfing over the police on that hover drone hadn't exactly been the most discreet way of getting into Jam Pony during the siege, but desperate times and all that. It'd been the thing she'd been dreading for months. All the people that she had come to think of as friends at Jam Pony were looking at her like she was the enemy. Well, not OC and Sketchy of course, but basically everyone else, and she had actually cared about these people. If she'd had time to think about it more rationally, she would have realised that they were just confused and scared, but rational thought was becoming increasingly difficult.

She finally managed to convince everyone not to try and run, and convince Mole not to kill anyone (which had taken some doing). OC was taking care of Gem, which just left Alec, who was stupidly acting as if the bullet lodged in his arm was just an annoyance rather than something serious. She begrudgingly left Mole in charge and took Alec off to the lockers where they could sit down and she could take a look at his arm (AN. Because of course Alec's gonna let some little X6 kid he's only just met sort out his injured arm? I mean, I do like Dalton, but what the hell was that?! I should SO have worked on this show!). Working together, they removed his jacket and sweater, leaving the grey t-shirt underneath. Max turned him round to the side and ripped the sleeve of the shirt right up to his left shoulder so she could see what she was looking at.

It wasn't bleeding too badly now, but it still looked pretty ugly and the bullet was still in there. "You alright, Max?" came Alec's voice, shaking Max out of her trance. "Am I alright?," she replied incredulously, though her voice shook more than she would have liked, "sure - the complete lack of an open bullet wound in my arm is keeping me fine and dandy!" Alec laughed gently, looking away as she started to clean the wound so that she could see what she was looking at, "Whatever you say Max," he went on, still not looking at her, "you just looked a little pale is all". '_Damn_', Max thought, cursing him inwardly for noticing.

"Well", she said, attempting to sound more cheerful than she was, "you may be a pain in the ass, Alec, but I'm not wishing you dead or anything!" "Gee!" Alec said, slightly sarcastically, putting his right hand over his heart as he said, "You're making me feel all warm and fuzzy, Max!" Max laughed softly and rolled her eyes, self-consciously trying to even out her breathing as she turned her attention back to his injured arm. Thank God he could still make her laugh, she thought, that - if nothing else - proved he was still ok, and she was surprised by how relieved she felt to know that.

She put down the scrap of cotton wool she had been using to clean up his arm and reached for the thin pair of steel tweezers, hesitating for a second. "Go on, Max," Alec said, "I trust you". "On three then," Max said, steadying her hand, "One…two…". She didn't wait for a three, quickly delving into the wound and pulling out the single bullet. Alec's breath whistled through his teeth as he tensed with the pain, but otherwise he didn't make a sound. Max quickly discarded the tweezers and applied a dressing to Alec's arm, not saying another word until it was done.

It was only then that she looked up into Alec's eyes, to find a little pain there, but something else too - something much deeper than the pain he was feeling, but she couldn't tell what it was at that moment. "Thanks Max," Alec said as together they managed to pull on his sweater and jacket again, "guess we better get out there, right? If we're all going to get out of this, us transgenics need our general". "No," Max said, standing and shaking her head, "we need two". Alec frowned, did she actually mean what he thought she did? He opened his mouth to ask her but she had already gone, leaving him to this thoughts.

*

It'd just got worse from then on. Max had arranged for safe transport with the police, but White had hijacked the situation and now they had CeCe lying dead in Normal's office. But even that wasn't the most of their worries. They also had Logan. Up until this point, Max had been holding it together, and keeping everyone under control, but one look at the expression on Mole's face when Logan arrived was enough to tell Alec that things wouldn't be under control for much longer.

Logan's arrival on top of CeCe's death had been a little too much for Max to take, so when she had disappeared into Normal's office, and Logan had made to follow her, Alec had made it fairly clear that that wasn't an option right now. When he had walked into the office he had found Max just standing there, no longer crying but with tear tracks drying on her cheeks. He hadn't said anything - not that he would have known what to say even if he could have spoken - just stepped over to her and pulled her into his arms. 

They stayed like that for several minutes, no words passing between them, just silently drawing on the strength of the other. They only parted when the first shouts reached them, Alec running out of the office with Max hot on his heels. Alec swore under his breath as he reached the scene, this was so not what they needed right now. He and Max found themselves face to face with a very irate Mole who was pointing his shotgun right at Logan's chest - it'd clearly been the two of them that had been doing the shouting. Everyone else was formed into a kind of loose circle around the two, apparently not knowing what to say or do. 

Alec took one look at Max, and then took the initiative, pushing through to the front of the crowd and stepping in front of Logan, just praying that Mole didn't have an itchy trigger finger - he really didn't fancy the idea of getting shot twice in one day. He heard Max's voice, before he saw her coming into the middle of the circle too, "What the hell is going on?" She had only been a few seconds behind Alec, but she was stunned when she finally saw what was happening - Mole's gun pointed at Logan with Alec standing in the way. 

"All I was saying was---" Logan started, quickly, but Mole was already reaching for the trigger and looking fairly comfortable with the idea of pulling it. "Hey," Alec said, moving a little so he was now completely obscuring Mole's view (and shot) of Logan, "this isn't helping anyone right now - we need to work together if we're gonna get out of this alive". "You tell that to him!" Mole bit back, though he lowered his gun, realising that he couldn't shoot Logan without hitting Alec, "He's been here five minutes and already he's trying to give _us _orders!"

"I'm not trying to step on any toes", Logan interrupted again, missing Alec's eyes rolling skyward as he started talking again, "but we need some kind of plan here - someone has to get this organised". Mole seemed to take this as a personal affront, as did several of the other transgenics who started to advance forward, menacingly. "No one moves!" Max called, halting every one of them in their tracks, surprising Logan. "See? You're not getting this, buddy," Mole said, a smile appearing on his face, but he didn't loosen his hold on the shotgun, "you're not one of us. And that means that you don't get to say what happens here".

"There's exactly two people I take orders from," he started again, before Logan could reply, "and that's her," he said, gesturing to Max, "and him," he said, gesturing to Alec, to the surprise of more than one person in that room. Even Max seemed to have been stunned into silence at that point, so Alec stepped in, realising something needed to be said. "Ok - the rest of you feel like Mole here?" he asked, getting no objections, "Right, then you're all gonna sit tight until either Max or I says otherwise - clear?" There was a general chorus of agreement and the crowd began to disperse, heading for whatever seats they could find, with only muttered conversation passing between them.

Eventually, only Max, Logan, Alec and Mole remained, with a rather tense silence descending between them. Logan looked about to say something, but Alec cut him off, sensing Mole about to retaliate to whatever Logan was going to say. "I don't wanna hear it," Alec said, "and Mole's right - you're not part of this, and nobody here is gonna follow your orders, got it?" Logan really looked like he wanted to say something, but had the sense enough just to nod. "Good," Alec said, turning to Max, "we'll take next sentry duty - you ok here?"

"Yeah," Max said, "go - I'll be alright". Alec hesitated for a second, but then nodded, leading Mole away to the front of the building to relieve the sentries stationed there. "Jesus," Logan sighed when he judged that they were out of earshot, "Max, I---" he started but Max interrupted him, all patience finally gone from her. "Don't Logan," she said, so forcefully that Logan actually recoiled a little, "I know you think he's just a screw-up and an asshole, and only ever out for himself, but just bear this in mind ok? That asshole just saved your life". He didn't seem able to answer and she didn't stick around to see if he did - she had never been so angry with him as she was now.

Right, well, I know that wasn't exactly a bundle of laughs but I'm going for plot development here! The siege at Jam Pony will continue next chapter, but that should be it then, and the meaning of the runes will finally be revealed! *SS*


	6. six

The meaning of the runes

By Sinful Starlet

Disclaimer: everybody! "Not mine, never will be, wish it was, etc etc"!

Rating: Erm, maybe R for violence? Dunno really, it's not that bad but it's not exactly kidsy either!

Summary: Alternate take on events around and following 'Love Amongst the Runes' - certain aspects of the storylines around that time really bugged me! Basically Max discovers the runes, but they aren't quite as unique as she thought. What do they mean and what will that revelation mean to her and the ones she loves?

Author's note: Finally, chapter six is here! I'm living in denial that I have uni work to do because I just had to get on with this story! This chapter's kind of long, but it does round off the Jam Pony episode, and includes a few interesting revelations. Let's just say, it's not great to be Logan right now, and M/Aers should be reasonably happy - that's all I'm saying.

I've stuck to 'Freak Nation' more or less, but reworked it a little so it fits my story. Oh yeah, and one reviewer asked why I 'jumped' to the Jam Pony siege. I'll just say that basically, all this stuff is happening around the same time, and I'm following a storyline based on important moments for my characters rather than strict day-by-day action. Hope that clears that up and I hope you enjoy the chapter anyway! *SS*

6

Logan stood there for almost a minute afterwards, his face the picture of surprise and miscomprehension. He couldn't believe what had just happened. He knew things were less than perfect between him and Max right now, and that she was bound to be upset because of CeCe's death. Still, she had just yelled at him in defence of Alec, of all people, and stormed off without even letting him reply. He really didn't understand what was going on, but he knew he had to try and talk to her, especially after what he had found out that morning.

*

Translating the runes had been slow going, though Logan hadn't exactly been able to concentrate. However abstract the photos may have been, he kept returning to one in particular. It showed the whole of the design as it had appeared on her back, his fingers slowly tracing the outline of her figure on the surface of the picture, knowing that he would never be able to touch her like this in reality. Even before he had found out about her and Alec, he had almost given up on the hope of finding a cure for the virus. He swore under his breath - of course, that was the real problem after all. Not the virus - Alec.

He had never had that high an opinion of the other man to begin with, and he absolutely hated him now. He just couldn't understand what Max saw in him - ok, they were both X5, but surely she knew that where she came from didn't matter to him? At first, he hadn't even believed it, it hadn't seemed possible to him, but now he had the definite proof in his hands. The photos were a constant reminder of all the ways that Alec was close to Max that he couldn't be. 

He shook off that thought, after all, there was nothing he could do about it. Could he really begrudge Max her happiness, if that was truly what Alec was for her? Cursing himself for allowing his mind to wander again, he turned his attention back to the translation in front of him. It was almost there, he was just missing the last few symbols. He leafed through the pile again, searching for what he was looking for, and at last he found it. He had to try a few different variations, but eventually the meaning lay clear in front of him.

It read like a prophecy, if it could be called anything at all, making Max out to be some kind of Messiah-like figure - the "one" to save them all. He sat back, momentarily stunned into silence. It was only then that he actually heard the TV report playing away in the background. That was Jam Pony, and wasn't that……….? Max. Surfing into Jam Pony on a hover-drone for God's sake, right into the heart of the frenzy building up around the building. If his translation of the runes was really correct, then he had to let her know.

He snatched his car keys and was almost out the door before he remembered the other set of runes. Alec's runes. For a moment he really hesitated. Could they really be that important in comparison to Max's? There was only that one set after all, and he really needed to get down there and talk to Max. He waited less than a minute more before he ran back to his desk, throwing the photos on the floor in his hurry to find the right one. 

He sat down and immediately started searching through his list of the translated symbols. Once it was done, he stopped and stared, actually checking twice more that he had got the translation right, but it seemed that he had. Well wasn't that just perfect, he thought, just so fitting………….Minutes later he was in his car, heading over to Jam Pony, trying to figure out how he could get inside. All he knew was that he had to get to Max. As far as Alec was concerned? Well that was another story………

*

So now he waited, he retreated over to the sofas where the rest of the hostages were sitting, keeping out of the way until he could get Max on her own. That looked like it was going to take a while. She moved through the building, purposefully ignoring him as she went. She checked on Gem, spoke to Sketchy and some of the other people from Jam Pony - trying to keep them calm, and then she spent an agonisingly long five minutes (as far as Logan was concerned) deep in discussion with Alec and Mole. Finally, she moved away from him, and Logan took his chance.

"Not now, Logan," she said as he stepped out in front of her, though her voice no longer held any anger, "I just don't have time for this - maybe I shouldn't have gone off at you, but I've got a little too much to think about right now". Well, it wasn't exactly an apology, but Logan was happy for whatever he could get. "I'm not trying to tell you how to run things here," Logan said, holding up his hands in a symbol of surrender, "but I do need to talk to you". 

"Logan--" Max started again, but he cut her off on whatever objection she was about to voice. "It's about your runes," he said simply, seeing that he finally had her attention. "You've translated them?" she asked, her voice tired but urgent. "Well I've got as close as I'm going to get," Logan admitted reluctantly, "they seem to be some kind of account of an event that's supposed to happen - something bad". "Bad like how?" Max asked, finding an empty bench by the lockers and sitting down on it. "Like biblically bad," Logan said, sitting down too, but at the opposite end of the bench, "something potentially devastating for the human race".

"But why was all this coded into me?" Max asked, struggling to comprehend what Logan was saying. Logan hesitated, but knew it had to be said, "Because you're the one that's supposed to stop it". "I don't know how," he said quickly before she could interrupt again, "but you're the one, Max - it's all you". Max had no idea what to say, how could she? Someone just tells you that you're the saviour of mankind? How do you even begin to deal with that? Eventually she said, "Are you sure?" but from the tone of her voice, Logan could see it wasn't really a question. 

She sat in silence for a few more seconds, before she eventually remembered, "What about Alec's runes? Have you translated them too?" Logan didn't answer immediately, looking down, avoiding her gaze. "Logan?" she prompted again, her voice becoming a little more insistent. Logan looked up at last, but before he could say anything, he saw Alec running over to them. "Max," he said quickly, "we've got to move - they're coming".

"What?" Logan questioned, not understanding. "I don't know what he's talking about," Mole said as he ran up too, "it's all quiet, front and back, there's nothing---". "He's right," Max said, locking eyes with Alec, immediately understanding, just as he had, "we've got to move - now!" "Get everybody upstairs!" she called over her shoulder, already up and running towards the 'hostages' to get them moving. "Max there's nothing--" Mole tried again. "You heard her!" Alec yelled back, helping Gem to her feet so he could carry her up the stairs, "Now move!"

Logan was as lost as everyone else as he followed the group up the stairs, he didn't understand Max and Alec's behaviour any better than Mole did, but one look at their faces told him not to question either of them now. As soon as they were upstairs, and the hostages were hidden, Max and Alec got the remaining transgenics into attack formation. Logan immediately went over to them too, but he was unceremoniously moved back by Mole, on Max's orders no less, so he reluctantly got out of the way.

Alec quickly ran through the plan, taking command of Mole, Joshua and even Max herself, who was looking to him with real nervousness in her eyes. It seemed that she and Alec were the only ones who understood how serious this was going to be, and he had absolutely no idea how they knew that. He saw Joshua and Mole move to the left and right to take up their positions, but only realised that it was Max left beside him as he felt her slip her hand into his, squeezing it tightly. He looked down at her, smiling grimly, it was only that he realised the truth. She was scared.

*

The battle that had followed had been brutal. White's goons, whoever they were, were stronger than any of them expected - if they were going to get out of there, they were going to have to fight to the death. Alec gasped in pain as one of the group landed a lucky blow to his injured arm. She didn't get a chance to exploit that weakness though, she was down in less than ten seconds. He cast around the room, searching for the others, knocking another of White's team to the floor with a single kick. Joshua and Mole seemed to be doing ok, but he couldn't see Max. 

He kept low and ran as fast as he could threw the abandoned rooms, checking every body he came to, but still he couldn't see her. His heart leapt into his mouth as he rounded the last corner. Max was in trouble, the woman she was fighting (obviously the leader of the group) really had her on the ropes. He saw her knock Max to the floor, leaving Max sprawling with blood coming from her mouth. He tensed to launch himself at the woman, but before he could even move he heard another shout, and Logan beat him to it.

Alec swore and ran forwards. If the woman had knocked Max on her ass, Logan had no hope, and he was really getting a pasting. He fell to the ground, clutching his side and gasping in pain, leaving the woman free to go after Max again. But she never got the chance. Logan managed to pull himself up against the wall in time to see Alec arrive, and he was horrified by what he saw. Alec was on fire, moving so fast his arms and legs blurred in Logan's vision, though from the woman's screams of pain, he was inflicting some serious damage.

But she wasn't alone for long. Logan only had the chance to shout, "Look--" before the other man arrived. He took one look at Alec beating the hell out of his leader and threw himself at the X5. Logan almost screamed with the pain as he tried to get to his feet to help Alec, to do something, anything - but he couldn't move. He could only cry out, when the new man spotted Max, also struggling to get to her feet. He immediately broke off his attack on Alec and ran towards Max.

But Max was not an X5 for nothing, she had been feinting her attempt to stand, so when the attacker reached her, she was more than ready. The man screamed as she grabbed his leg and broke it with a swift chop of her right hand. In an instant he was down and she was up, completely ignoring Logan and running straight to help Alec. She needn't have bothered though, the woman was on the floor before Max could reach him - out cold and completely unmoving.

"Max, are you alright?" Alec said immediately, breathing heavily from the fight, but paying no attention to his own injuries. He stood right in front of her, running a hand over her face, brushing the trail of blood away from her lips. "I'm alright now," Max said, managing a weak smile, her eyes slowly trailing down to the hand that was still caressing her cheek. Alec noticed where her eyes had fallen, and eventually removed his hand, remembering at last, even if Max wasn't aware of it, that Logan was still in the room.

"You had me scared for a moment there, Maxie," he said, his voice just on the edge of a joke, a smile starting to form on his lips. "I know how you feel", Max said, avoiding his gaze and swallowing the lump that had formed in her throat, completely missing the look that crossed Alec's face as he guessed what she had meant by that. Logan had watched this whole exchange without saying a word, feeling more out of it than he ever had before. He tried to stand up again, coughing with the effort as he did. 

"God, Logan," Max breathed, apparently only just realising, or remembering that he was there. She shot a look at Alec who understood exactly what she meant, and he rushed forward to help Logan stand, grabbing his hand, as Max could not. "We have to get out of here," Max said, "get back to Terminal City before they can send in reinforcements". "Well, we should--" Alec started, though he never finished as a sharp howl pierced the relative quiet of the room where they were standing. "Joshua!" Max cried, running back out of the room, Alec right on her heels with Logan struggling to keep up.

They all came to a halt as soon as they reached him, understanding what exactly had made him cry out. It was White. White that had murdered his Annie. None of them had ever seen Joshua like this. He was going to kill White. Max ran forward, trying to separate them, succeeding just in time for Alec to catch White as he fell backwards, knocking him to the floor, and keeping him there with a foot pressed against his chest. Joshua immediately advanced on White again, snarling, pushing Max aside as she tried to stop him. 

"No, Josh," Alec said, struggling to hold him off and maintain his position holding White down. "I know what he did, but trust me, you can't do this - I won't let you have his death on your conscience". Joshua howled in pain, why could none of them understand? "He killed Annie!" he roared, renewing his attempt to dislodge Alec. "I know!" Alec yelled back, still not letting Joshua anywhere near White, "And he deserves to die for that, but if you kill him now then the only thing that people will remember from today was that a transgenic killed a human being in cold blood". "And believe me - if that happens, they will never stop hunting us".

"I know how much it hurts," Alec went on, sensing Joshua start to weaken, "but this is not the way to end it, ok? Not like this". Joshua stood there, breathing heavily for a moment, not backing down, but eventually his shoulders sagged and he nodded to Alec, stepping back. Max exchanged a look with Logan and then went over to Joshua, hugging him tightly to her. White smiled cruelly, sneakily trying to push himself up, but he found to his surprise that he couldn't move under the pressure that Alec was exerting on him. 

Alec only moved his leg to reach down and pick White up by the shoulders, grabbing his neck in one hand and holding him off the floor before White even had the chance to react. "Don't make the mistake of thinking you won something today," Alec said, not loudly but enough for Max, Joshua and Logan to hear him, "I stopped Josh killing you because he's a good person, he shouldn't have to carry that". "Me, on the other hand? Well I was born to be a killer. Manticore spent twenty years teaching me how to do it, and I got very, very good at it". "And I wouldn't have hesitated," he went on, "but like I said, it can't happen now".

"But I tell you this," he said, tightening his grip on White's neck, making Logan almost start towards him, though one look from Max told him not to move, "you come near Max, or Joshua, or any of us ever again, and I will kill you - remember that". He threw one punch at White's head, dropping him to the floor where he remained, unconscious. For a moment, none of the others spoke, not even when Mole arrived, nursing a broken arm. "Gem had her baby," he said, taking in the sight before him and not knowing quite what to make of it, "the little girl's fine but we really need to get her out of here". "Yes, we do," Max said, stepping forward, the idea coming to her immediately, "and we're getting out right now".

*

Switching uniforms with White's guys had been easy enough and between the five of them, with Sketchy and Original Cindy's help, they'd commandeered a van and an ambulance and they were back on the road to TC. Of course the police had tried to stop them, but after Max had done a little persuasive negotiating (involving every other member of the TC population turning up, armed to the teeth) they had taken off, ensuring one small victory for the transgenics that night.

Gem and her baby, and Mole with his broken arm had been sent straight off to the med centre, and after much protesting, so had Alec - Max insisting he had his arm properly looked at. So it ended with just Logan and Max left, neither speaking at first. "Max---" Logan started eventually, needing to say something. "Not now, Logan," Max said, shaking her head, "we've all been through enough tonight - and I've got to get over to the med centre - and so have you". 

Logan just nodded, seeing in that perhaps more meaning than he should have done. They walked in silence to the med centre, only speaking again once they reached it. Max directed an X5 doc to have a look at Logan's injuries, and then immediately headed for the door. "Wait," said the X5, a guy called Stat, who used to be in Alec's unit, "you look like you could use a little attention yourself". "Soon," Max said, ignoring the looks from both him and Logan, only one thing on her mind right now, "where is he?" "Right down the hall," Stat said, "he's already asking for you". Max nodded once, weakly returning the smile on Stat's face, and walking out before Logan could say another word.

Right! Well I know that was kinda long, but I didn't want to break it up, mid-battle. I hope ya enjoyed it anyway, we're pretty close to the end now, so I'll try and update soon. *SS*


	7. seven

The meaning of the runes

By Sinful Starlet

Disclaimer: everybody! "Not mine, never will be, wish it was, etc etc"!

Rating: Erm, maybe R for language? Dunno really, it's not that bad, just erring on the side of caution. 

Summary: Alternate take on events around and following 'Love Amongst the Runes' - certain aspects of the storylines around that time really bugged me! Basically Max discovers the runes, but they aren't quite as unique as she thought. What do they mean and what will that revelation mean to her and the ones she loves?

Author's note: Chapter seven is here! I've finished the evil uni essays so I've got a little more free time to work on this story. Getting pretty near to the end now, but there's still a way to go. I call this my 'Max has revelation, Alec has confusion, and Logan has foot in mouth' chapter! Hope ya like! 

Oh yeah, and just wanted to add - my medical knowledge completely sucks so if I'm inaccurate in any way, that'll be why! *SS* 

7

Max walked quickly through the building, checking each door in turn in her search for Alec. She finally found the right one, catching a glimpse of Alec lying on a gurney as one of the other docs (an X6) walked out of the room. "How is he?" she asked, her brow furrowing in concern. "He's fine," the X6, a girl named Flix, said, "wasn't really much for me to do. The wound on his arm had already healed over. Other than that he's got a few bumps and bruises but that's it". "What?" Max questioned, Flix's news not quite ringing true to her, "He can't have healed already. I mean, I know he's X5, but even we don't heal that fast". "Well that's what I thought," Flix said, "hey, you can check yourself if you don't believe me!" Max shook her head, smiling, "That's ok - he alright for visitors then?" "Go ahead," Flix said, pushing the door open again behind her and leaving Max and Alec alone.

Max walked slowly over to the gurney on the opposite side of the room, trying to get a handle on the mess of emotions cluttering up her head at that moment. He didn't look up or say anything as she walked towards him, and once she reached him, she saw that his eyes were actually closed. She stopped for a second, just looking at him. He looked very peaceful - a little too peaceful at that, she thought. "Alec!" she called, a little urgently, shaking his uninjured shoulder. "Geez Max!" Alec said, a little woozily, "Can't a genetically-engineered super soldier get a little sleep every now and then?!" Max almost laughed with her relief, he had just been asleep after all. "Asshole!" she joked, swatting his arm, "I thought there was something seriously wrong with you - well, more wrong than usual!"

"Easy!" Alec joked back, pretending to wince with the 'sting' of her words, "Still recovering here, y'know?" Max rolled her eyes and pulled up a chair next to his bed, "Seriously, Alec - you're alright?" "I'll live," Alec said, slightly taken aback by the concern etched on her face, "What about you?" "Still a little sore," Max answered, honestly, "think I might have cracked a rib - I'll get Flix to have a look later". Alec nodded, hesitating before bringing up the subject she seemed unwilling to, "And Logan?" "I'm sure he's fine," Max said, looking down as she spoke, "I haven't actually checked in with him yet".

Again, Alec was a little surprised by her answer - she had come to see him before Logan? He looked back over to her, about to say something about it, but then he caught the look on her face, "Max, what is it?" Max looked up suddenly, a little ashamed at being caught out, and not knowing how to begin to answer Alec at that point. "I was in real trouble today," she began, each word a difficult admission on its own, "and if you hadn't been there, then I---". "Hey," Alec said, cutting her off, seeing a few tears start to form in her eyes. "You're alright," he said, rolling onto his side and propping himself up on his elbow, taking her hand in his free one, "I know it was rough today, but we got out, Max". "We got back to TC - Gem and her baby are safe, we all are". "Yeah, for now," Max replied, sighing, but not letting go of his hand, "but how long is that gonna last? White isn't just gonna give up".

"I know," Alec said softly, squeezing her hand, "but you'll figure something out - you always do". He hesitated for a few seconds before he spoke again, watching her eyes fall again, "And I'll be here when you do - I'm not going anywhere, Max - whether that's a good thing or not!" Max nodded, managing a smile, but there were definitely tears in her eyes now. When she spoke, her voice was so quiet that even Alec had to strain to hear it, but the words were definitely there, "It is - thank you". Max raised her free hand to their joined hands, lifting them up as she gently touched her lips to the back of his hand. Alec's eyes closed at the contact, so brief, so gentle as to be almost not there, but so significant. His eyes snapped open in an instant though as he heard someone else enter the room. Logan.

*

He was walking a little haltingly, obviously still in pain from the beating he had taken. He stopped though as soon as he saw the position that Max and Alec were in. Alec quickly pulled his hand away from Max, seeing the look of surprise on her face and nodding his head towards Logan to get her to realise that he was there. "Logan," she said, sniffing and quickly wiping her eyes, "what are you doing here?" "I was looking for you," Logan said simply, inclining his head to look past her at Alec, "you alright?" "Fine and dandy," Alec replied, seeing straight through Logan's attempt at casual. "I really need to talk to you, Max," Logan said, turning back to her, "can we go somewhere and--?" He trailed off, leaving the question hanging. 

Max paused, looking to Alec before she said anything. "Go," said Alec, nodding to her, still not quite understanding her behaviour - was she asking for his permission? "I'll catch up with you later". Max seemed to weigh this up in her mind, then nodded, standing up and going to follow Logan back out the door, lightly squeezing Alec's hand again as she left. Alec lay back against the gurney as the door closed behind her, trying to rationalise what had just happened. Things had never been this confused between him and Max before. He sighed, seeing her so vulnerable in front of him had been a real shock, and he hated seeing her in so much pain.

*

Max closed the door behind her, falling into step beside Logan, but not knowing what to say to him. She eventually managed to say, "How are you feeling?" letting go of the confusion swirling around inside her at that moment. "Been better," Logan said, smiling, though he could sense that things were far from fine between them right now, "how's Alec?" Max's head snapped up at the question, always jittery when either Alec or Logan asked her about the other, "He's fine - amazingly fine really". (AN. Sorry, just realised what that sounds like! Actually meant it was amazing how fast he had recovered - not the other meaning, although that does definitely apply too! *SS*) 

"There's something different about him," Max went on, seeing the look of confusion on Logan's face, "his bullet wound has already healed, and he's stronger than any other X5 I've ever known". "Max--" Logan started, not sure he entirely liked where this conversation was going. Max apparently didn't notice though, in something of a trance with this thought, "Seriously, Logan - I mean, watching him fight today, I've never seen anything like it". She looked up Logan's face then, catching the expression it held before Logan had the chance to even attempt to hide it.

The awkward silence that descended between them lasted several minutes after that. Eventually it was Logan that took the first step. "You know for the longest time, I didn't believe you when you said you were with Alec now". Max suddenly froze, this conversation was suddenly a little too close to home, and definitely something she didn't want to discuss with him. "Logan--" she started, intending to cut him off, but he carried of regardless, just ignoring her. "You always fought so much, I couldn't understand what you could possibly see in him," Logan went on, "but I guess today pretty much kills that theory doesn't it?" "You really do care about him don't you?"

"Yes". The word left Max's mouth before she even realised that she had said it, but she knew at that moment, that it was also the truth. "I never gave him enough credit, Logan," she said, not sure whether she was trying to justify her feelings to Logan or to herself, "because of Ben, or whatever else". "He's not perfect, but he's always there when I need him. And he saved my life today - if he hadn't been there, whether I'm this great saviour or not, I wouldn't have made it". "Max---" Logan cut him, but she wasn't ready for him to cut in just yet. "I don't want you to hate me, Logan - I never meant to hurt you, but you have to know that this is the way it's going to be". "This," she said, opening her arms, gesturing to their surroundings, "this is my life, all of it - and Alec is always going to be a part of that".

"But that doesn't mean you can't be," she said quickly, sensing Logan's dejection deepening by the second, "I can't be with you - but that doesn't mean that I want you out of my life". Logan breathed heavily, taking his one shot at some kind of reconciliation, "You mean you still have feelings for me?" Max cursed under her breath, why was he making her do this? Didn't he understand how confused she was? Couldn't he just accept what she had to give and leave it at that? "I know things are complicated now, with the virus and all," Logan went on, not looking at Max as he spoke, "but that doesn't mean they'll always be". "I never gave up on us," he went on, "but I need to know that you feel the same way". 

He looked down at her hands, noticing for the first time, the gloves that she had in fact, pulled on as soon as she had left Alec's room. He took a chance and reached for her left hand, catching it when she made to pull away. She held his hand for all of a second before she pulled away, shaking her head, "This is about more than just the virus, Logan - don't you understand that? I'm not with Alec just because I can touch him without killing him!" Max's last words stung Logan to the core, but he wasn't ready to give up on this just yet, and now he was misguidedly losing his temper.

"You sure?" he questioned, making her look up at him sharply, "I mean I know it's been hard avoiding even the most basic contact between us - maybe your patience ran out a little sooner than mine". Max reeled back like she'd been slapped, and unfortunately for Logan, this was the exact moment when Alec appeared, rounding the corner behind them and coming into view. One look at his face told him enough - Alec had heard every word of what Logan had just said, and he was seriously not impressed. The dull thud of realisation came crashing down on Logan as he took in Max's stricken face - he had let his anger and jealousy push him too far.

"Max--" he started, needing to say something, anything to tell her he was sorry, that he hadn't meant it, but Alec cut him off. "No, I don't think you get to talk to her now - jesus, you really are dense sometimes, Logan!" That threw Logan for a second, dense about what? But before he could even open his mouth to ask what, Max cut him off. "Alec, no," she said, shooting a warning glance at the other man, making him back down, "let's just go home, I think we've all said enough tonight". "Go and see Luke, Logan," she said, her voice no longer angry, just tired, "he'll set you up with somewhere to sleep tonight". Alec hesitated, not sure what he was supposed to do here, before Max walked over to him, reaching for his hand, "Come on - let's go home".

The look on Logan's face was not lost on Alec as they walked away together. He understood in a second what the other man was feeling, though Max was becoming more of a mystery as the day went on. He realised that she was steering them back towards their second 'home', in the abandoned apartment block on the North side of TC, so he just walked beside her, not saying a word, sensing that she wouldn't have known what to say if he'd asked anyway. They walked down the hall until they reached Alec's door, and he started to fumble through his pockets until he found his keys, eventually fitting them into the lock and opening the door. He turned to Max to say goodnight, but found that she wasn't moving. "Max…" he started, before trailing off, not knowing what to say anyway. "Can I come in?" she said, in the smallest voice he had ever heard her use. "Of course," he said, stepping aside to let her pass him. 

__

Right, *ducks to avoid heavy objects being thrown at her* I know, I'm evil cliff-hanger person, but this just seemed like a good point to stop! I'll try and update soon! *SS*


	8. eight

The meaning of the runes

By Sinful Starlet

Disclaimer: everybody! "Not mine, never will be, wish it was, etc etc"!

Rating: probably PG-13 - nothing too graphic!

Summary: Alternate take on events around and following 'Love Amongst the Runes' - certain aspects of the storylines around that time really bugged me! Basically Max discovers the runes, but they aren't quite as unique as she thought. What do they mean and what will that revelation mean to her and the ones she loves?

Author's note: Chapter eight is here! I apologise in advance because it's kinda short, but it makes more sense separating it this way. This is kind of a different spin on several 'morning after' Max/Alec scenes I've seen - take from that, what you will! Max finally lays a few things on the table, though what that means to Alec…

Oh yeah, and I've tried to avoid the corny - apologies if I strayed a little too far into corny territory, but that's just the way this scene came out! Hope ya like it anyway! *SS* 

8

Alec locked the door behind them and then went to make them some coffee, while Max headed for the sofa. He joined her about three minutes later, with a cup in each hand, though he almost dropped them when he saw her face. It seemed that the last of the Guevara defence had finally collapsed and she had obviously been crying silently ever since she had walked into the apartment. He put the cups down immediately and sat down beside her, pulling her gently into his arms, her head resting on his shoulder. He didn't say anything, not that he needed to - he just let her have her cry out, sitting silently with her and stroking her back. They stayed like that for longer than either of them realised - Max pouring out all her hurt and confusion, drawing on Alec's strength to soothe her into a moment of calm.

She eventually pulled back, sniffing and wiping her eyes, knowing that he didn't need her to offer any explanation or excuse, she just took the cup of coffee which was by this time almost stone cold and drank it slowly. "Come on," Alec said, suddenly standing up and offering her his hand. She looked at him questioningly, but took his hand, letting him pull her to her feet and lead her towards what turned out to be his bedroom. Max stopped jerkily on the threshold, a sense of panic setting in. Alec shook his head and just went over to the bed, straightening the duvet and fluffing up the pillows. "Stay here tonight," he said, walking back over to the door, "I'll sleep on the couch - that way I'll be around if you need…" he was going to say 'me' but instead substituted, "anything". 

Max sighed with gratitude, more thankful to him at that moment than she had even been to anyone in all her life. She kicked off her shoes, and removed her jacket, but didn't even bother to remove any of her other clothes, just sliding under the duvet as she was, resting her head back against the cool pillow and closing her eyes in relief. She felt the dip in the mattress as he sat down beside her, and opened her eyes again to look into his. "Thanks, Alec," she said, knowing it was stupid and obvious, but unable to say anything more meaningful at that moment. "Anytime," Alec replied softly, leaning over her. He had meant to kiss her forehead, but at the last minute, he dipped his head lower and lightly touched his lips against hers.

*

The next morning, Logan made his way over to the apartment building. It'd taken him about half an hour to persuade Luke to actually tell him where Max would be, but he guessed he had Mole to thank for Luke's nervousness, having seen Mole talking to the other transgenic just as he was arriving. He climbed the stairs up to her floor and took a deep breath before knocking at the door. There was no answer. He checked at his watch, but she certainly should have been awake by now, so he knocked again. Still no answer. He tried the door, but it was firmly locked. He even tried calling her name, but eventually realised that she couldn't be there.

Which left him with door number two. A door he really didn't want to try at this particular moment, but he had to talk to Max, to say something about how sorry he was, to at least try and explain. So he swallowed his pride and knocked at the second door. Again, no answer. He briefly considered just giving up for the time being and trying somewhere else, but he figured it was worth at least one more shot, so he knocked again. This time he was rewarded with some sounds of life behind the door, and a few seconds later, it swung open to reveal Alec. The younger man was just pulling a shirt over his head, giving Logan a glimpse of the runes that looked as if they had only just started to fade, and he looked less than pleased to see him.

*

A few minutes before Logan arrived, Alec had awoken to find Max crouching next to the sofa where he had been sleeping, holding out a cup of coffee to him. He sat up, taking it from her, smiling gratefully. "How'd you sleep?" he asked after he had drank about half the cup. "Good," Max said, realising, "better than I have for a long time". "You're welcome," Alec said, smiling at her surprise that he had anticipated what she was about to say. "Well, I guess we better get over to the hub then," Max said, doing her best to just sound business-like for the time being, "and I want to check in with Gem as well today - see how she's doing". "Max?" Alec said, looking at her questioningly, wanting her to just talk to him, but not wanting to push her into any kind of admission. "Are you alright?" he asked, as she just sighed and looked away from him. 

"Not exactly," she said, brushing a strand of her hair behind her ears, "but I got myself into this mess, right?" She sighed again, draining the glass of water she had left on the table, "I'm just sorry you got dragged into it too - that wasn't fair". Alec hesitated, not quite sure what to say. He had been mad at her, at first, for what she had said to Logan, but he was far from angry now. "Hey," he said, trying to assuage her guilt a little, "I know I wasn't exactly on board at first, but you were right - you did have to say something". "He's just acting the way he is now because he cares about you so much," Alec trailed off at that point, thinking '_I know exactly how he feels'_. "Maybe," Max said, more to herself than anything else. 

Alec could sense the awkward break in conversation, so he just put his cup down on the table and stood up, folding up the blanket he had been using and laying it over the back of the sofa. "I'll just go and get cleaned up," he said, "if you wanna wait for me, we can go over there together". Max nodded, sitting down on the sofa to wait, before getting up again to retrieve her boots from the bedroom, then sitting down again and starting to lace them up. Alec showered quickly, noticing that the runes on his chest were just starting to fade as he unconsciously trailed a finger across them. Shaking off whatever he had been thinking about, he stepped out of the bathroom, fastening the top button of his jeans, and grabbing the clean shirt he had found from the hook on the bathroom door.

He was about to pull it over his head, when he caught sight of Max again. She was still sitting on the sofa, looking for all the world like she hadn't moved since he had left, with a sadness in her expression that worried him more than he would have admitted. "Max?" he said, walking round so he could face her properly, dropping his shirt on top of the folded blanket and sitting down beside her. She sat in silence for several seconds, before she finally said, "Why do you stay here, Alec?" That threw him for a loop, and for a moment, Alec had absolutely no idea what to say, eventually managing a slightly less than intelligent, "What?"

"Seriously," she said, looking up at him, her expression unreadable, "I mean, sticking around here you've been captured by White, beaten up, shot, arrested - and the whole time I've either yelled at you or just told you that you deserved it all". "Max--" Alec cut in, trying to stop this whole guilt-trip she seemed to be on, but she apparently hadn't finished yet. "And if that wasn't enough," she went on, ignoring or not hearing Alec's interruption, "I then drag you into the whole emotional mess that is…or was my relationship with Logan". "I mean I've lectured you, laughed at you, fought you, and you're still here - why?"

Alec cursed inwardly - how could he possibly answer her? Whatever he was feeling, she didn't need that confusion dumped on her now, especially after everything else that was going on at the moment. He sat down beside her and forced himself to look cheerful, trying to brazen it out, "Stupidly persistent, I guess!" he said, keeping his tone as light as possible. He paused, possible about to take the dumbest chance he'd ever taken, but he had to know, "I mean if you'd rather I just took off, then---". "No!" Max said, surprising even herself with the forcefulness of her response, she looked down, "I know I've been a bitch to you a lot of the time, but I'm glad you stayed…". 

It was Max that hesitated this time, summoning up the courage to say her next few words, "I don't know what I would have done these last few weeks, if you hadn't been here". "Come on, Max," Alec said, needing to say something, anything to break the silence that had descended between them, "you don't need me - you never have". "You're wrong," Max said, shaking her head firmly, her voice insistent, needing him to understand her, "more wrong than you could ever know". His heart leapt at those words, and he searched her face for the truth he was hoping had underlined them. She looked slowly up at him, apparently about to say something else, but she was interrupted by a knock at the door. At first, neither of them moved, but after a few seconds, the knock came again and as Max stood up, walking back to the bedroom, Alec, cursing under his breath got up to answer it. He picked up his discarded shirt, just pulling it over his head as he opened the door.

*

"Alec, I need to talk to her, please," Logan started before Alec got the chance to say anything, "I just want to apologise and she's not at home". It took virtually all the strength left in him to ask, "Is she here?" Alec did consider just slamming the door in his face, but he was spared any kind of response by Max's excellent timing. Before he got the chance to say or do anything, Max emerged from the bedroom, pulling on her jacket as she came. Her expression approached something like 'deer in headlights' as she took in the sight in front of her, but to her credit, she didn't panic, just walked slowly towards the two men, stopping right next to Alec. "I came to apologise, Max," Logan said, avoiding her glance for the time being, "but I'd rather do that later, when I can speak to you on your own". "As for now," he went on, "Dix is organising a meeting at the command centre, he wants you both to be there". He turned without saying another word, leaving them alone and heading quickly for the stairs.

__

Ok, sorry that was a little short, but I had to finish it there, otherwise this chapter would have been too long (with the TC meeting included, obviously). Anyway, I hope you liked it, and as always - I'll try and update soon with what could well be the last chapter of this story! *SS*


	9. nine

The meaning of the runes

By Sinful Starlet

Disclaimer: everybody! "Not mine, never will be, wish it was, etc etc"!

Rating: probably PG-13 - nothing too graphic!

Summary: Alternate take on events around and following 'Love Amongst the Runes' - certain aspects of the storylines around that time really bugged me! Basically Max discovers the runes, but they aren't quite as unique as she thought. What do they mean and what will that revelation mean to her and the ones she loves?

Author's note: Okay, so I know this was _supposed _to be the last chapter, but it didn't quite work out that way - there'll be one more after this, and I apologise in advance for the evil cliff-hanger, but hey - it's my story! I do - at least - finally explain the whole 'runes' thing! Hope ya like it anyway, and I should have the last chapter up soon. *SS* 

9

Max and Alec arrived at the Terminal City hub about half an hour later, and as Max walked into the centre of the 'room', if it could really be called that, she was amazed at how full it was. Sitting around the place, or leaning against the walls were Mole, Dix, Luke, Joshua, Stat, Flix, and Logan. The atmosphere was a little tense already, and Stat and Flix in particular were looking quite uncomfortable - they weren't used to being invited to ruling committee meetings. Max shot a smile at Flix to make her relax a little and then took one of the remaining seats, Alec sitting beside her automatically.

A few looks were exchanged between the other transgenics. They all knew that Max was pretending to be with Alec because of Logan, but there seemed to be something different between the two of them, although Joshua was the only one who seemed to realise what it was, and he wasn't about to say anything. "Well, I guess we can get started," Dix said, though Logan noticed he looked to Max and Alec for authority first. "Go ahead," Alec said, "what's the news?" "Right," Stat said, after Dix motioned for him to speak, "well everyone from the siege yesterday seems to be recovering pretty well". "Gem?" Max cut in. "She's fine," Flix said, smiling, "and so's her baby - she's calling her Aurora".

"Uh," Stat cut in, smiling apologetically, "not to be rude or anything, but if that's all you need us for, we should probably get back to the infirmary. We used up a lot of materials yesterday and we could really do with getting an inventory together for the next supply run". "Sure," Max said eventually, when she realised that everyone else was looking to her to answer, "good idea". "Oh, tell Gem I'll be over later," she added as Stat and Flix both got up to leave. Flix said that she would and they both left, leaving the remaining council to finish the meeting. "Your friends are safe too," Mole said, taking his turn, "we took them back last night, and they've both called in this morning to say that they're okay". Max breathed a sigh of relief, she was sure that OC and Sketchy would have been fine, but it still helped to hear it said out loud. 

"We're working on strengthening our defences on the borders of TC as well," Dix continued, "We've got a few construction crews together - mostly X5, X6. We can't keep 'em out forever, but it's a start". "Uh, that's great guys," Alec said, somewhat at a loss. He and Max were supposed to be the 'generals' of the TC population, but there didn't seem to be a damn thing for them to do. Looking at Max, he could tell he wasn't alone in that opinion. "That just leaves you," Dix said, gesturing to Logan, focussing everyone's attention on the sole human present. "I'll leave later today," Logan said, avoiding Max and Alec's eyes for the time being, "Joshua and Luke have got me hooked up with some tunnels that should get me beyond the sector police's barricade without attracting too much attention". "But before I go, I have some news that I think everyone needs to hear". 

"It's about the runes," he went on, seeing that he finally held the attention of everyone else there, "I've got a translation". "Before I start that though," he said, quickly, because he could tell that they were all waiting for him to get on with it, "you're sure that no one else has them?" Max looked questioningly over at Joshua, who shook his head, "Nope - told everyone to come here if they find any - no one's come". "So what do they mean?" Mole asked, impatiently - Logan after all, wasn't exactly his favourite person.

"Well, Max's - like I told her yesterday," Logan started, taking a guilty pleasure in the look of surprise that prompted on Alec's face, though his joy faded when Max shook her head and placed her hand over Alec's to appease him, locking her fingers in his. "As I was saying," Logan said, struggling to recover his thread, "Max's form some kind of prophecy or forewarning. It's a little vague, but they speak of some kind of event, a plague or some kind of catastrophe anyway. Ultimately, something will happen that will put the whole of mankind in danger, possibly even danger of extinction". 

"Okay, so she didn't have the funny pages printed all over her, but what's that gotta do with Max?" Mole said, butting in. Logan rolled his eyes, but recovered himself enough to carry on, but Max beat him to it, "I'm the one that's supposed to stop it". She was clearly having enough trouble herself coming to terms with that idea, even before she took in the astounded looks of everyone else (particularly the concern etched on Alec's face), "It doesn't say how, but there it is - whatever it is, I'm the one who can prevent it". "She's right," Logan said, taking over from her again, "unfortunately it doesn't say what this event is, or when it'll happen, or what Max is supposed to do about it". He stopped, looking over at her for a minute, "You haven't had any more runes?" he asked. 

"No," Max said, shaking her head, "the ones I had have all faded as well". A silence descended on the group then, while everyone tried to process what Logan had just said, though it looked like that was going to take a while. Eventually it was Joshua who broke the silence, voicing the question that apparently everyone else had forgotten, "What about Alec?" Alec looked up then, frowning, not realising what Joshua was talking about. "Runes on Alec," Joshua added, clarifying his meaning, "what do they say?"

Everyone turned back to Logan then, waiting to hear what he had to say. "You haven't had any others either?" Logan asked, stalling a little. "No," Alec replied, shaking his head, "so what do they mean?" "Basically they tie your future into Max's", Logan said, his face blank, clearly not enjoying actually having to say this, "they mean something like 'guardian of the one - protector of her destiny', which I guess would explain your superior strength and maybe even how you knew that the raid was coming yesterday". "Guess you two really are meant for each other," he added, his voice ever so slightly bitter, though he took some satisfaction from the confusion on all their faces.

"Well, I guess that about does it," Dix said, breaking the moment of stunned silence that was threatening to engulf the room again, sensing that Max and Alec needed a little time to work through everything they had just heard, "maybe we should get back to---". Thankfully, the others seemed to get the message, Mole mentioning something about their arsenal and disappearing off to check on that, Luke and Joshua going to do a door-to-door check on who needed what for the next supply run. Dix discreetly took himself off to the far side of the hub, where all the monitors were hooked up, starting to leaf through a stack of papers. Eventually, it was just Max, Alec and Logan that were left, and if the silences had been awkward before, they were nothing at all to this one. This time it was Alec that took the initiative though, letting go of Max's hand, that he hadn't even realised he was still holding and getting to his feet. 

"I'm gonna catch up with Stat," he said, almost imperceptibly shaking his head as Max looked like she was about to follow him, "come and find me later?" he said to Max. She hesitated, not sure this was really the best time to be talking to Logan, but then nodded, realising that they couldn't just leave things the way they were. Logan waited till Alec had gone, and then looked over to Max, finding not for the first time in the last few weeks, that he no longer knew where to start when it came to talking to her. "So," he said at last, not able to think of anything else. "So," Max echoed, standing up and walking over to him, "Logan, I think there's a few things we need to say".

*

"Alec?" Stat called again, realising that the other X5 hadn't heard a word he had just said, "Hey, Alec!" he tried again. "What?" Alec said, coming sharply out of his momentary reverie, "Oh, sorry," he said, apologetically, "guess I'm a little distracted today". "I noticed!" Stat replied, laughing a little, though he wiped the smile from his face when he saw Alec's expression. "Must be serious to distract the great and powerful 494!" Stat added, trying to lighten the atmosphere, although that apparently didn't go down all that well. "Let me guess," he went on, a little more sensitively, "this wouldn't have anything to do with Max, would it?"

Alec just shrugged, there didn't seem to be much point in denying it now. "So what's the problem?" Stat asked, frowning, "I mean, I haven't seen you this messed up since that whole Berrisford thing". Alec rounded on him in an instant, and Stat quickly held up his hands in a gesture of surrender, "Sorry, man - I forgot you don't like to talk about---". "It's ok," Alec said, waving his apology aside, though the mention of Rachel had brought back a lot of painful memories. "I don't think she knows what she wants," Alec said, sighing, sitting down on one of the gurneys in the room where Stat had been writing out his inventory. "And I'm not sure if she'll ever get over her feelings for Logan," he finished, looking more defeated than Stat had ever seen him before. 

Stat hesitated, but then said, "Are you sure? She was pretty worried about you last night, and she just walked off and left him while she went to look for you". "I don't know," Alec said, his shoulders slumping, the hope he had felt that morning, rapidly deserting him. "For a while I guess I thought that……maybe I was wrong". Stat put down the phials that he had been marking off on his list and looked straight at Alec, "You're in love with her, aren't you?" After all the conversations, all the soul searching - it all came down to that one question, and the simple truth of it scared Alec more than anything that they'd thrown at him in psy-ops. But Stat never got his answer, because just as Alec was about to reply, there was a knock at the door, and Max appeared in the doorway, smiling awkwardly.

"Hey," she said, more to Alec than Stat, who greeted her just as awkwardly, so she turned to Stat, welcoming the change of subject, "how's it going?" "Not bad," Stat replied, smiling back at her, reassuringly, "I've got Flix and Dian checking on our blood supply and bandages, and I think we're gonna need some more IV kits and sterilising solution". "Right," Max nodded, not really paying too much attention, but remembering that she should at least say something, "well, if you get that list over to Dix tonight, we'll see what we can do". She turned at last to Alec again, "Can I talk to you for a minute?" "Sure," Alec said, sliding off the gurney and walking towards the door, "see ya later, Stat". Stat nodded, watching the other two leave - hoping for Alec's sake that she was going to give him some good news.

__

I know, I know! Horrible place to stop, but I just wanted to eke out the suspense a little more! The next chapter is definitely the last one though - nice little M/A scene to tie it all up. *SS*


	10. ten

The meaning of the runes

By Sinful Starlet

Disclaimer: everybody! "Not mine, never will be, wish it was, etc etc"!

Rating: probably PG-13 - nothing too graphic!

Summary: Alternate take on events around and following 'Love Amongst the Runes' - certain aspects of the storylines around that time really bugged me! Basically Max discovers the runes, but they aren't quite as unique as she thought. What do they mean and what will that revelation mean to her and the ones she loves?

Author's note: Right - the ending is finally here! Erm…this was supposed to be 'sweet' - like I said, and it doesn't quite work out that way at first! I promise, the ending is a little cheerier - and M/A all the way baby! *SS* 

10

Alec stuffed his hands into his pockets as he fell into step beside her. The events of that morning seemed so distant to him now, and he was sure he was about to get the mother of all brush-off speeches. She had talked to Logan, she had told him the truth, he had welcomed her back with open arms (well, as open as he could without risking the virus again), and now she was coming to tell him that it'd all been a mistake. He unconsciously licked his lips, savouring the memory of that kiss - how soft her skin had been under his fingers, the scent of her hair, and the bitter tang of her tears. He would have to leave, he thought, there was no way he could be around her anymore and not _be_ with her, but the idea of just leaving and never seeing her again was so painful he almost couldn't breathe.

"Alec?" Max said, her voice breaking through his reverie, "What's wrong?" He stopped dead in his tracks - how had she known? True, he had been fairly quiet, but he hadn't let any of what he had been feeling show on his face, he'd got pretty good at that over the years. He turned to her, about to speak, but she beat him to it, "I just knew," she said, gently, anticipating his question, "I don't know how……but I did". He couldn't take this - her voice so soft and caring, when he was sure that any minute now she was about to rip his heart out. He couldn't help it, he just fell back on the first defence that Manticore had left him - he got angry.

"What? It's not enough that you're the 'saviour of mankind' - you've gotta be psychic too?!" "Alec?" Max said, suddenly hurt, not understanding where this was coming from. "Leave me alone, Max," he said, using all the strength left in him to hide the swell of emotion inside him, "I know what you're gonna say, and I don't need to hear any kind of explanations or apologies. I understand, just…" he hesitated, finding it increasingly hard to say what he knew he had to, "…just, let it go". Max was completely thrown - she knew, however hard he tried to hide it, that he was deeply upset, but she really couldn't work out why - unless he had decided that what had happened between them had been a mistake.

Thinking that, she seriously hesitated before speaking again, and by the time she looked up to say something, she found that he was already about thirty feet in front of her, and getting ever more distant. Feeling a spurt of panic, she ran after him, catching him easily of course, given that he didn't try and run himself. She didn't stop till she was standing directly in front of him, dodging left and right when he tried to get past her. "I don't want to fight you, Max," he said, his voice low and menacing, "but I'm telling you now - leave me alone". "I can't," Max said, defiantly, though she had to admit, slightly afraid of what would happen if he really did decide to fight her. 

"Alec, please," she said, pleading with him now, "whatever's got you like this - I don't get it". Alec closed his eyes, sighing deeply. More than anything right now, he just wanted her to leave so he could go back home and drown out the pain for a while, but it seemed like that wasn't going to happen - Max wasn't going anywhere. "Look," he said at last, his voice calmer, but still heavy with feeling, "like I told you Max - if you're here to explain to me how you're back with Logan now, and you've realised what a mistake you made with me - I don't wanna know, I…" he paused, the weight of his emotions really taking a toll, "…I can't hear that from you". "And if that's the way it's gonna be - I don't think I can stay round here anymore". 

He left her with that bombshell, taking advantage of her apparent stunned silence to walk quickly past her, needing to be anywhere but there at that moment. For the longest time, Max didn't even move. She couldn't believe what she had heard, and the pain in his eyes was just heartbreaking. It took over a minute before she finally realised what he had said…_'if you're back with Logan now'_…_'I don't think I can stay around here anymore'_…He was going to leave. He thought that she had gone back to Logan, and he was just going to walk out and leave her for good. Her head snapped round in an instant, searching the landscape for any sign of him, but he had gone. Her breath quickened in her panic, and she took off, not even aware of where her legs were taking her. 

She raced round the nearest corner, but then ground to a halt. It was almost ridiculous - she was right in the middle of Terminal City, and Alec could have gone anywhere. She stopped, breathing hard, racking her brains to think where he would go. She thought of calling his cell, but knew even before she finished dialling the number that he wouldn't pick up - and she couldn't just say all she needed to say to him over the phone. Then all of a sudden, a single image flashed into her mind. Where it came from, she had absolutely no idea, but it didn't matter - she knew where he was going. 

*

Dix, Luke and Joshua all looked at each other in astonishment as Max raced into the command centre, unchaining her ninja and speeding back out of there without saying a word. Dix and Luke just shook their heads, but Joshua nodded to himself, he alone guessed who she was chasing. How she got out through the sector police stockade, seemed like a blur to Max. None of it mattered anymore - not the hail of gunfire, not the shatter of the windows of the car she landed on as she soared over the fence. She just sped up as soon as she hit the road surface, losing the chasing sector police after less than two blocks. Before she even realised, she was pulling up outside the building, chaining up her bike again and heading for the stairs. 

*

Alec's journey wasn't quite as frenetic. Initially, he had just wanted to get out of TC, to disappear into the crowds of the Seattle streets and forget. He used a couple of the tunnels that the sector police hadn't found so far, and climbed up to the street, just starting to walk, not actually heading for anywhere in particular. After a while though, his body seemed to decide on a course, and stopping at last, he looked up and surveyed the stark outline of the space needle.

*

He climbed out onto the disc of the roof, though he turned to leave again almost immediately as he noticed that he wasn't alone up there. "Alec," Max called, standing up and walking quickly towards him, following him back through the broken window, into the room formed by the shell of the disc, shuddering for a second as she remembered the time she was there with Ben. It still amazed her how alike and how different the two of them were, the Manticore twins. "Alec, wait," she called again, as he reached the top of the stairs, "will you just listen to me for a moment - please?"

Alec stopped, his shoulders sagging, though he didn't immediately turn round. "Maybe I am psychic," Max said, walking as slowly and silently towards him as she could, "I knew where to find you today - but maybe you are too". "What?" Alec said, turning round at last, his face still immobile, but his voice softening a little. "Read my mind," Max said, still walking slowly towards him, "just think about it - would I have chased you half way across Seattle if I was trying to push you away?" She stepped forward three more steps, till she was right in front of him, and reached for his hand once more. 

"I'm not back with Logan," she said, finally able to make him hear the truth, "that was never what I was going to say to him, and…" she trailed off, avoiding his eyes for a second before she looked back up and said, "…I don't want you to leave". Alec was stunned. The last few hours had been some of the darkest of his life, and now he couldn't quite believe what he was hearing. Yet here she was, her smaller hand still clutching his, and he could tell, even without looking into her eyes, that she was more scared than he had ever seen her before. Her words finally sank in - she wasn't with Logan. He had assumed that that was what she was going to say, and he had just raced off before she got the chance to say anything about it.

But he had been so sure. He looked down at her, searching her eyes for some kind of answer. "Max?" he started, but he never got the chance to finish, as she suddenly curled her hand around his neck, pulling him down to her level and pressing her lips against his. Her kiss was soft, but insistent, all the more bittersweet as he felt the tears running down her face. He sighed into her mouth, pulling her closer to him and deepening the kiss, trying to make her understand every feeling that he couldn't articulate. Max's tears flowed freely as she felt his lips move against hers. He was so tender with her, his hands sliding up her sides to frame her face - making her feel, in that instant, more loved than she ever had in her whole life.

She hated to break the moment of intimacy between them, but she reluctantly broke the kiss, Alec's hands slipping down to rest on her waist - there were some things she needed to say. "I don't know what's gonna happen," she said, "but the one thing that scares me most - more than White, more than anything the sector cops can throw at us, is the idea that I'd have to face any of it without you". "I'm not good at these great emotional speeches," she went on, "but the truth is that the runes are right". "I need you, Alec - I just never understood how much - and I can't do this alone, I can't and I won't - not without you". 

Alec couldn't speak right away, just lifting a hand to her cheek, wiping away her tears with his thumb. "You're right, Max," he said at last, his voice soft and calming, "we don't know what's gonna happen - but I'm not leaving". He even smiled a little as he added, "I can't and I won't". "I was just afraid that I was going to lose you to Logan again, and I couldn't just stand there and watch that happen". "After Rachel…" he started again, feeling a pang with the mention of her name, but needing her to really understand, "…I didn't think I'd ever……". "Ssh," Max said, being the one to comfort him this time, but he wasn't quite finished. 

"I so very much love you," he said, leaning in to kiss her again, sinking into that feeling. It had taken him years, but he was finally able to let go of Rachel's ghost, knowing that he would always love her, but that still did not compare to his feelings for Max. He felt for the first time in his life, that he wasn't alone anymore. His place was right here, at Max's side - and in that moment, they both understood that fact completely. "I love you, Alec", Max said, when they finally broke apart again, reaching down to take both his hands in hers, "come on - let's go home".

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Ta da!!!!!! FINISHED!!!!!!!!!

Oh well, hope ya liked it anyway. I can finally get back to work on 'Max and Alec and another locked room', but it might take a while to update that one. Anyway, I hope you enjoyed this story, and I'll be back with something else, sometime soon. *SS*


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